The Lost Ones by Anita Frank @Ajes74 @HQstories #TheLostOnes #AnitaFrank #historicalfiction #ghoststory #5Stars

Book Synopsis:

Some houses are never at peace.

England, 1917
 
Reeling from the death of her fiancé, Stella Marcham welcomes the opportunity to stay with her pregnant sister, Madeleine, at her imposing country mansion, Greyswick – but she arrives to discover a house of unease and her sister gripped by fear and suspicion.

Before long, strange incidents begin to trouble Stella – sobbing in the night, little footsteps on the stairs – and as events escalate, she finds herself drawn to the tragic history of the house.

Aided by a wounded war veteran, Stella sets about uncovering Greyswick’s dark and terrible secrets – secrets the dead whisper from the other side…

In the classic tradition of The Woman in Black, Anita Frank weaves a spell-binding debut of family tragedy, loss and redemption.

The Lost Ones is available in ebook and paperback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

I so enjoyed this wonderful historical ghost story which has a great classical feel to it. It’s definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year.

I love books set in atmospheric old houses, especially when they are obvious full of history and hidden secrets. The house in this story definitely has a creepy feel to it and seems to be talking or interacting with the characters at times. This book is set in the last few years of the first world war in a time of great uncertainty and where a lot of people had lost loved one or had loved ones come home injured which lead to a lot of grief. I was shocked to read about how society reacted to grief and how a women grieving was easily dismissed as female hysterics. The book also shows how powerless women were at the time and how controlled by men they were.

There are some fabulous characters in there which I loved reading about and some I loved to hate. My favourite characters were definitely Stella and her quirky maid Annie both of whom I warmed to instantly. I felt very sorry for Stella as she has lost her fiancé and is struggling with dealing with everything. I was impressed with her strength and determination to try and discover the truth about what was happening in the house. The love she has for her sister was truly heartwarming to read about too. Mrs Henge helped provide a great villian to the story and she made me jump a few times with her ability to suddenly emerge from the shadows. She’s very menacing, especially to Stella, and I found it frightening to learn how much power she seemed to have over the household. It made me more impressed with Stella as she stands up to her which I don’t think I’d have been able to do.

This is an absorbing, gripping book which I thought was a fabulous read. I loved following all the supernatural incidents that happened in the house and enjoyed trying to figure out what was going on and why. The truth is revealed slowly and I liked that the author didn’t just focus on the supernatural elements to the story but added other threads which let me get to know the characters more. There are a few twists in the story which I wasn’t expecting and added another element to to the story which I though was very clever.

The ending was brilliant and I loved how everything was resolved. I felt quite sad to finish the book and have to leave all the characters, and the house, behind. I’d love to read more about Stella and hope that she features in another book soon.

Huge thanks to HQ Stories for me copy of this book via Netgalley.

About The Author:

Born in Shropshire, Anita studied English and American History at the University of East Anglia. She now lives in Berkshire with her husband and three children.